'John Wick 4': Chad Stahelski on Directing the Donnie Yen vs. Keanu Reeves Fight Scen

"The 18-year-old me would have been like, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe I'd do this.'"

During Collider's Directors on Directing panel at Comic-Con, a sneak peek of the upcoming John Wick 4 was shown off with all new footage of Keanu Reeves taking on various bad guys as he looks to bring down the High Table. Among the myriad of fight scenes, Reeves came to blows with another ultra-experienced action star in Donnie Yen. Using a combination of pistols and swords, the two battle in a scene that action fans have been dreaming of for years. Director Chad Stahelski sat down with Collider's Steve Weintraub to discuss J. J. Perry's directorial debut Day Shift, which Stahelski produced, and naturally, the discussion turned towards the latest installment of the action franchise and the epic showdown between Reeves and Yen.

Reeves built his action resume on the back of The Matrix and John Wick franchises among others, but Yen is known for his own four-film saga Ip Man. Yen starred as the titular master of the martial art Wing Chun, following his life from his escape to Hong Kong with his family to his establishment of a martial arts school where he'd later train Bruce Lee among many others. Even before the massive international success of that franchise, he'd made waves as an action star across Asia, becoming one of the biggest overseas action stars and helping to popularize several fighting styles like MMA and Wing Chun in his native China.

Stahelski was asked how he felt working with two action legends and if there was any added pressure to get the scene right, to which he admitted he was a little starstruck by Yen. "Well, again, the 18-year-old me would have been like, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe I'd do this,'" he said. "That's, I'm not going to lie, I giggle. I'd make jokes all the time. It's like Donnie would come up with a question, I'd start giggling. He's like, 'What's wrong with you, man?' I was, 'I'm directing Donnie Yen, what do you think I'm doing?'" He felt that all of his experience as a fight choreographer had led to this moment where he got to work intimately with Yen and make this scene perfect. While it was certainly a special occasion for him, he notes Yen likely saw it as just another day at the office.

At The Box Office

One of the benefits of having Yen was his years of experience. He'd provide suggestions for Stahelski and was incredibly quick to pick up what was needed of him according to the director. Despite being 59, Stahelski noted Yen was "still fast as fuck," adding plenty of energy to such a long-awaited scene with Reeves. He described working with the two of them as a surreal moment, saying, "So, I'm standing in between, you've got Donnie Yen and you got Keanu Reeves, and you're touching hands with all of them, blocking out stuff. And you're like, 'Holy shit. Those are really real.'" Between arranging a fight that people have wanted for years and wrapping up the John Wick franchise, it left Stahelski with the question of "How am I going to make this fucking movie?"


Stahelski wrapped up by assuring that the Reeves and Yen fight scene would be something unique. While the director was intimately familiar with some of Yen's signature moves, he wanted the fight to fit the John Wick universe and the over-the-top action of it all while relying on the acting chops of the two stars:

So, it always comes down to, I can do the Donnie Yen triple kick. I can do all this, but you also want to do something different. So, you start sitting, you come at it from character, and you have a lot of discussions with the guys going, 'Okay, Donnie is amazing at this. Keanu is amazing at this. They're both great actors, so let's lean onto that, and let's do something we haven't seen before.' So now, that Donnie Yen with a sword and a pistol and Keanu with a samurai sword and a couple of pistols and throwing an AR-15 and a glass mirror room with Japanese artifacts. And yeah, throw in a couple of dogs, and let's see what happens.

John Wick 4 is slated for a March 24, 2023, release. Check out the clip shared at SDCC below and look for more from Steve's exclusive interview with Stahelski soon.